John Means (businessman)

John Means
2nd Mayor of Ashland, Kentucky
In office
October 20, 1881  June 7, 1882
Preceded byH. B. Brodess
Succeeded byWilliam Wirt Culbertson
Personal details
BornSeptember 21, 1829
West Union, Ohio, US
DiedFebruary 14, 1910(1910-02-14) (aged 80)
Ashland, Kentucky, US
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHenrietta Perkins
ChildrenEllison Cooke
Eliza Isabelle Means
Parent(s)Thomas Means
Sarah Ellison
Residence(s)Ashland, Kentucky, US

John Means (September 21, 1829 – February 14, 1910) was a mayor of Ashland, Kentucky and a leader in the banking and iron industries. He helped organize the Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company, laid out Ashland Cemetery, built furnaces, served as vice-president of the Ashland National Bank, and he served then led the growing iron business of the Means family. The Kentucky Encyclopedia of 2015 described the Means-owned iron empire as having "created massive enterprises out of the disorganized and weakened industry that emerged from the Civil War."